Childless Creativity
Next month sees this year's Childless festival at Chester Storyhouse. The 2 day event (September 23rd-24th) explores childlessness in all its forms. I have been roped into volunteered to take part in one of the panels. I am childless by choice and will be part of a men's panel discussing what it's like being childless, either voluntarily or involuntarily, and how it impacts creativity, purpose and legacy. As the panel will be looking at creativity I was "volunteered" to write a song for the event, which I have done. It's "global exclusive first-time performance" will be at this panel.
For more info follow this link https://www.storyhouse.com/seasons/storyhouse-childless/
Being Prolific
I hope you enjoy this photo of me working in my studio that is completely genuine and not posed for the purposes of having something to put on social media at all.
I'm going to do a Youtube channel update soon to cover some things I should probably talk about. I've recorded another song recently, it's a re-recording of another old song, Get Into My Jeans, which I'll probably release in October/November. I've also written a new song for a thing which, again, I'll tell you about soon. So that's two songs produced and another written in just a few months. Now obviously this has something to do with my broken leg and being stuck at home, but something else is going on here too.
I had a fairly severe mental health "episode" at the end of 2021. In the olden days it would have been called a "nervous breakdown". It wasn't very nice. I was shortly after diagnosed with depression and anxiety, put on medication and went into counselling. Throughout 2022 and much of this year, apart from a few acoustic covers gigs, I've done very little musically because I found "being creative" too difficult and all my energy was put into getting better.
I am a lot better now, but I still struggle with my mental health from time to time. Some friends have encouraged me to talk more openly about stuff like this. I'm reluctant because I don't think anyone really cares. However, I'm also aware that assuming nobody cares is a symptom of my depression. To be honest I also assume nobody really cares about my music, but I really like it so I don't mind putting it out there.
To summarise - I have been doing a lot of creative things and you shall see the fruits of my labour shortly. It comes after a dry period caused by me being a mentalist. I'm a bit better now thanks.
Have a one night stand with me in September!
My new song is finished and currently squirreling its way into streaming services across the globe. It features a magnificent guitar solo by Rick White who is one third of Echochamber and will be on general release from September 15, although I may release it earlier on Bandcamp and on here because I don't give a toss about streaming services.